Waking Up
by Cheerful Regression
Summary: He felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it. ShikaIno.
1. Chapter: 1

**Summary: **He felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it.

**Pairing:** ShikaIno (Like it won't be obvious within seconds).

If you don't like this pairing then you'd be something of an idiot if you read this anyway. If you want to flame then I'll go ahead and copy/paste this warning in reply. Please don't be silly.

**Warning:** Gratuitious smexiness. Multi-chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Oh good heavens, if only I owned it. Then I could fix certain things...

* * *

I hate hangovers, Shikamaru thought groggily. I'm a genius, I should be a bit smarter than this.

At least the bed was comfortable. Though it wasn't his own bed.

He raised his head, moving his arm and feeling something silky shifting beneath his skin. He blinked and realized that there was silky blond hair trapped beneath his arm. And then he knew where this was heading.

Ino was lying next to him, her cheek pressed against the mattress, one hand resting near her face and the other arm framing the outside of her head with her hand buried underneath the pillow. Her hair was fanned out around her and some of it was trapped underneath his arm.

He stared at her, taking in her peacefully sleeping expression. It was so unusually quiet. It looked like there was an interesting hickey on the crook of her neck, almost hidden by her hair. And there was no sign of clothes, from the smooth expanse of her back that was available for viewing. Though there were some quite fascinating red grooves against the outside of her shoulders.

He shifted slightly and could feel warm sheets against his bare skin.

Then he felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it.

Stupid alcohol.

The clock read nine. There was really no reason for him to be awake yet. Maybe he should just go back to sleep.

But there was a very beautiful and naked girl lying next to him in bed. It beat cloud-gazing.

And even Shikamaru wasn't that lazy.

Ino shifted slightly in her sleep and Shikamaru's eyes were magically drawn to where her chest was pressed against the mattress. He wished that her breasts were a bit more visible, but it was certainly more than he ever saw otherwise. She shifted again, pressing against the bed to rise slightly, stretching her spine for a moment, and turned to face the other direction and she pressed back against him.

This was a great and precarious place to be.

It was precarious because they were both naked, but no longer drunk. And one of the best and worst aspects- it was _Ino_.

She was gorgeous and knew it. Even down to the way that she moved, though that was something he wasn't sure that she even noticed anymore. And this whole thing started in the stupidest way too.

"_Take care of my body, Shikamaru."_

There was only so much a thirteen-year-old boy could take of holding onto or guarding a beautiful girl, before he started getting a bit crazy. And then it had turned torturous to use his shadow technique against her, because the very idea of making her body do things felt so inappropriate and was such a turn-on.

Stupid Ino with her stupid body.

And then there was her personality. Her personality which ranged from really friendly and sincerely caring to mean, impatient, and kind of annoying. And she'd always end up yelling insulting questions at him that made Asuma snicker.

"_Why won't you let me fight more?"_

"_Why don't you ever really fight against me?"_

"_I'm not weak!"_

Even Choji had bugged him about that for awhile, complaining about how Shikamaru seemed to have no trouble letting him get hurt and why was it that Ino got all the special treatment.

And then there was Asuma laughing in the background, his eyes bright with amusement.

Asuma must have told Kurenai about it because she'd get a stupid sort of grin when she saw him if Ino was anywhere nearby. Which in turn made Shikamaru feel that it was absolutely necessary for him to throw a biting insult at Ino that would quickly enrage her and they'd get locked in a vicious fight.

It only got worse as they got older. She kept getting prettier and prettier and she settled down on a lot of her stupider habits. And she got over her crush on Sasuke. It hurt her when they'd all made a pack to kill Sasuke, but that was painful for a lot of them. Not even necessarily about Sasuke himself, but about having to kill someone that they'd trained with, that had been a part of their experiences. It hurt to think about what it would do to Naruto who had made it his personal mission to get Sasuke back, as though his redemption might be enough to redeem himself, even though he'd done that in spades.

They'd also gotten much closer after Asuma's death. Ino fully accepted Choji and Shikamaru without any restraints, using them as supports as though her life depended on it.

It felt strange to be beneath that level of trust.

But then after all of that, she fell apart. She was dating wildly, anyone that she didn't know and that none of her friends knew. She'd never let any of them contact any of her real friends, but it was clear that none of them treated her very well. Some vicious rumors started and Ino seemed to revel in it. A complete self-destruction.

Then one day Shikamaru saw her with some random guy, standing outside of a shop near the edge of town. She was smiling at the guy with such a fake smile, her arms wrapped around his neck as she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. Just some civilian with a stupid smirk on his face.

Shikamaru was suddenly across the street, jerking the guy back, shoving him hard enough into a wall that it left him on the ground stunned. He caught Ino's arms tightly and scowled hard at her.

"Stop fucking around."

Ino stared at him startled before her temper rose magnificently in her eyes. Then she suddenly backed down and shrugged. She looked off to the side.

"Okay."

To the shock of her friends, she did. She settled completely back to the way she was before and was suddenly back on missions with her team. Well, the semblance of her old team. She and Choji had both made it to chuunin, but Shikamaru had been promoted to jounin.

He was usually allowed to pick his own team, so their old team was resurrected.

But now there was hard sexual tension.

On his side.

Towards her.

That she _somehow_ didn't seem to notice.

And it was driving him crazy.

Which is most likely what led to last night.

Apparently team vacations were not only a bad idea, they were actually a terrible idea. Not that having sex with Ino was a terrible thing. No, the tragedy was being unable to _remember_ having sex with Ino.

He smoothed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. There was a tempting expanse of shoulder, but he was tempting fate as it was. Ino shifted again and he felt her wake up. She stretched a bit and paused when her leg brushed against his. He backed up a bit as she rolled onto her stomach and turned to look at him.

"Really?" she said.

What a disappointment.

"Apparently," he said with a shrug.

She leaned her head face-down into the mattress. "Sorry about that," she said, her voice muffled.

Shikamaru hated feeling awkward. Were they just going to hang out in bed? He wasn't really into that unless there was a _bit_ more enthusiasm on the part of the girl.

"Do you remember what happened?" Ino said, turning her head to look at him.

He shook his head. Ino sighed. "I wonder where Choji is."

That was actually a good question. They _had _been rooming together. And he and Ino didn't even appear to be in that same _hotel_. And last he knew, Ino had the keys.

"So you don't remember anything?" Ino asked again.

He shook his head again. Being depressed made him tired.

"You're supposed to have some great memory."

"It doesn't work during a black-out."

"Do you know where my clothes are?" she said.

"Around," he said.

They were a part of a rather impressive display of violently strewn clothing covering the expanse of the room. Shikamaru sighed in further regret of not being able to remember. "You look away," Ino shot at him.

_Dammit._

He buried his head in the pillow as he listened to her rooting around the room and pulling on clothing. Finally she came and sat on the bed again. "So… where is Choji?"

Shikamaru lifted his head slightly so that his voice wasn't completely muffled. "My turn to get dressed."

Ino sighed. "Fine," she said, drawing up her knees and covering her eyes with her hands.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he internally realized exactly how childish they were. Like they hadn't seen each other in near-nude states before. Granted that was usually when there was some sort of injury that _required_ clothing to be removed, but still.

"I think I still have the key to the room," Ino said through her hands, "And Choji doesn't have one. You don't think he had to sleep outside, do you?"

"He's a ninja," Shikamaru said while yanking his shirt on, "And there were windows."

"Yeah, but none of them opened except for one, and that one was small. The others are just flat glass."

This was true, Shikamaru mused while forcefully tying his hair back in place. He caught a glimpse of his reflection and sighed in displeasure. Of _course_ Ino would have felt the need to leave a bite-mark on the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

It was so in-character for her. She'd been the type as a child to make sure that everything she owned had some sort of mark or trait identifying it as hers. Apparently that was something that she still unconsciously did even when grown up.

Though now it was more of a… successful conquest type of thing.

_Stupid_ Ino.

"You're healing this," Shikamaru said flatly, fingers going near but not quite touching the bite mark.

"Did I leave something on you?" she asked through her hands.

Shikamaru snorted and resisted the urge shove her. She was very near the edge of the bed, just the slightest little shove would send her toppling off. It would be gratifying at the very least.

He quelled that thought. His head already hurt enough, there was no reason to provoke Ino into shrieking at him.

"Aren't you dressed yet?" Ino asked in exasperation.

"Yes," he said, marveling at her hypocrisy. A complaint like that from the girl who took _forever_ to get ready.

Well, in comparison to himself and Choji anyway.

Ino dropped her hands and stared at him. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably before he realized that she was zeroing in on his neck. "Wow," she commented, "I did well. That must have bled."

He scowled at her, but she didn't notice as she was too busy flipping the sheet down a bit and lifting a pillow slightly. Yup. There was a blood-stain just below the pillow. "C'mere and I'll heal that," she said, lifting her eyes back up to him and gesturing with one hand.

"You're lucky, Shikamaru," Ino commented as she activated her chakra and placed her fingers above the mark, "Normally I don't heal this stuff. I kinda think of it as like, a gift of sorts."

"Don't you ever shut up?" Shikamaru snapped annoyed.

Ino glared and pressed her fingers down hard on the bite. It immediately burned and he jerked back. Damn. He knew better than that kind of timing. It was a stupid idea to taunt Ino _while_ she was doing something for him. Taunting should be done afterwords or else when she wasn't doing anything.

"There," she said with narrowed eyes, "All better, you baby."

It was actually.

Ino reactivated her chakra and placed her hand on her own head. "I don't like headaches," she explained loftily when she saw him watching, "I'd offer to fix yours, but you're being a jerk."

Immature brat.

"I'm going to go find Choji," he muttered getting to his feet, "Go check if we paid for this yet."

Ino began to protest that she wasn't going to pay, but then just glared instead. Shikamaru was in a perpetual state of having no money and she was in a perpetual state of being spoiled by her parents. She usually paid for things among her friends, actually.

Shikamaru let the door slam behind him and gave the slightest of smirks when he heard her shout after him in response.

* * *

It turned out that they were only a block away from their original hotel which made Shikamaru inwardly sigh because it meant that he and Ino had headed to this one for the specific purpose of fun time. Their original hotel was much more modest than the one he'd woken up in that morning, but it was still a very nice hotel.

Choji was in the hotel restaurant on the first floor, thoroughly enjoying the breakfast buffet. He choked when he first spotted Shikamaru and then his grin got steadily more Cheshire-like the closer that Shikamaru got to him. Which made Shikamaru pause wearily by the table, before he accepted the inevitable and sat down.

"And to think we were worried that you didn't have a place to stay last night," he muttered.

Choji started snickering. "What, you mean after you two abandoned me?"

"Shut up."

"Yeah right."

"How'd you get into the room?"

"I just told the front desk that I lost the key. It was easy enough."

Right. There were non-ninja ways of doing things. It'd be easier to remember if his head didn't hurt so much.

"So do you remember anything, or were you in black-out mode?" Choji asked, never losing his grin.

"Black-out mode," Shikamaru said.

Choji waited to see if Shikamaru would ask. He remained undaunted by the ensuing silence, however, and his grin somehow grew.

"You've never giggled that much in your life," Choji managed before breaking out in laughter himself.

Giggling. Oh good.

"Granted Ino thought it was hilarious as well," Choji managed, "Where is she, by the way?"

Shikamaru shrugged. Choji snorted, "Don't try to sell me any BS about not waking up with her this morning. I _know_ where you both went off to."

"She was still there last I saw her," Shikamaru said with a glare.

Choji just nodded and was silent for a moment before he started laughing again. "God, Shikamaru, I've seen you in black-out mode drunk before, but what the hell? I was up late laughing last night and now that I see you it's _still_ funny."

"_Shut_ up," Shikamaru groaned, "I don't want to hear it."

"If I had a video of you, I'd show it to you," Choji said, "It was that great."

…

At least Ino didn't remember either.

How much did he even drink anyway?

He glanced over to where Choji was breathless with laughter. Stupid best friends.

"I don't like you," he said.

Choji smiled, "That's not what you said last night. If I remember correctly, you told me that I was the greatest guy ever, that you didn't deserve to be my friend, and that you loved me. 'Dearly' was the word you added. Followed by, 'a lot' and then a bunch of giggling."

Shikamaru resisted the strong urge to kill himself. "What _did_ I do to deserve a friend like you, Choji?" he said darkly, "I've always tried to be a decent guy."

"Probably making up for bad karma in your previous life. Maybe you were a serial killer. Or, y'know, just a mean jerk," Choji said, nodding sagely.

"Apparently you paid for the room last night," Ino said carelessly to Shikamaru as she flopped down in the chair between the two boys at their four-sided table. She rested her head on her arms, turning to look at Choji. "Did you have to sleep in the hallway?" she asked.

"No, I just-"

"Good," Ino said. "So were you the sober one last night?"

Choji's grin returned. This was a great day. "I didn't want to get drunk enough to miss the show," he said.

"Did I tell you embarrassing secrets?" Ino asked.

"A few," he said.

Ino looked at him for a moment. "That's fine, I trust you. You're good at keeping secrets."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. It was a bit of Ino's manipulative magic. Now Choji would feel honor-bound to keep those secrets. One glance told him how effective Ino's words had been.

"That smells delicious," Ino said glancing at the plates of food in front of Choji. "Of course, I am on a diet," she said contemplatively. "What the hell, I'm on vacation."

Choji waited until she was out of earshot before snorting. "Diet my ass," he muttered.

The two boys knew very well by now that Ino's perpetual diet was a complete lie. Though she seemed to truly _believe_ that she was on a diet, she in no way acted as though she was actually on one. She'd make some mention of it and then proceed to eat good amounts of whatever she wanted. And she'd use whatever excuse.

Choji was under the impression that she was just doing it to appear dainty. The simple fact was that the girl had a great metabolism. But the one time that Choji made a mention of how much she _actually_ ate, she freaked out at him, beat him up, called him a lot of names, and then- of all things- started crying.

It was a topic to tread carefully around.

"If you were sober last night then why didn't you take care of things?" Shikamaru said.

Choji blinked. "What? Did _you_ want _me_ to stop _you_ from sleeping with _Ino_?"

"When I was drunk out of my mind? Yes," Shikamaru said.

"But you were both having such a great time!" Choji protested.

"I was drunk out of my mind."

"Yes," Choji nodded, "And you said, 'I'm having such a great time.'"

Shikamaru shuddered slightly. He wasn't the type to make declarations like that.

"I figured that you must have been having one of the greatest times _ever_ in order to actually _say_ that. Do you know how many times I've heard you say that you were having a good time? Yesterday brings that count to a total of one," Choji said.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. Stupid, traitorous friends. Willing to let him make a fool of himself.

Ino came back with a plate full of generous servings of colorful foods. Choji's eyes widened. "They've got cream pie out now?" he asked in a delighted voice, "I'll be back."

Ino took a bite of her slice of cream pie and then looked up and glared at Shikamaru. He returned her gaze warily. "Do you know how many _bruises_ I had to heal?" Ino said.

He blinked. "What?"

"There were bruises on my _arms_, and my _shoulders_, and my _hips_, and jeez! You're supposed to _tell_ the other person if you want some S&M play," she said with the same glare as she took another bite of her cream pie.

How embarrassing.

"That's hardly S&M," he muttered, looking away and idly turning an empty water glass. "And how do you know what happened? Do you remember it?"

"No," Ino said, and he could tell that she was telling the truth, "Somewhere around the twelfth or sixteenth drink is where I blanked out."

"Twelve or sixteen?" Shikamaru repeated, "You can remember up until then? Alcoholic."

Ino's temper flared. "It's not my fault that you're such a freaking light-weight! And besides if I'm an alcoholic, what does that make Choji? He was matching drinks with me!"

"And he's about twice your size and eats significantly more than either you or I throughout the day."

"That's totally true," Choji said, returning to the table, "Besides, I stopped drinking after the eighth drink. I was just faking after that and you were too drunk to notice."

"You lying cheater," Ino said scowling, "What kind of friend cheats at games and lies to their _friends_?"

"Just because I'm friends with the both of you doesn't mean that I need to act as dumb as the both of you," Choji said, unaffectedly.

"And how was that a game?" Shikamaru said, "All you said was, 'Have another drink.'"

"With more enthusiasm," Choji added.

"The _game_," Ino said darkly, with an angry look at the both of them, "was to see who could drink the most."

"Then you won," Choji said mildly.

The smell of the foods mixing together were starting to get to Shikamaru. He found himself wishing that Ino would forgive him enough to heal him. She caught him looking at her and stuck out her tongue. He sighed.

"If you had bruises then why'd you wait until after I left to heal them?" Shikamaru said as a challenge and then immediately regretted it to the point of being willing to sell his soul in order to redo that moment.

How, _how_ could he have ignored the fact that Choji was there? Why had he felt that it was okay to ask something like that?

He'd only been trying to expose Ino as a liar, after all. He didn't deserve this kind of public humiliation. Shikamaru paused, but then decided that he was correct in classifying Choji as 'public.'

Ino tossed her head so that her hair swept imperiously over her shoulder. "Because I didn't really notice them until I actually began moving around. Do you know how annoying it is to try to walk around with bruises everywhere?"

"Yeah, Shikamaru," Choji said, desperately holding back laughter, "Do you?"

Ino shot an angry look at Choji then. "Stay out of it."

Choji did start laughing. "Congratulations, both of you, for being able to only hold out until the _second day_ of our vacation," he trailed off into hard laughter until only a few words such as _pathetic_, _impatient_, _awkward, _and _stupid_ could made out.

Shikamaru decided that he hated Choji.

Ino shoved Choji hard, and she was a shockingly strong girl. A few nearby patrons gasped as the boy's chair shot backwards, though Choji was able to stand before the chair hit another table with enough force to crack the wood. Choji was still grinning. "Jeez Ino, settle down."

Ino was standing in front of Choji then, and Shikamaru could see some patrons blink and back away a bit. This wasn't a ninja village and the poor civilians were _not_ used to this kind of behavior.

"Stop laughing now or I _will_ beat you up," Ino threatened loudly, her right hand curled into a fist.

This needed heading off immediately or the restaurant, and perhaps the lobby as well, would be completely destroyed. And this was a _vacation_ so they wouldn't be able to charge the repair costs to Konoha.

Shikamaru wearily stood up, but the restaurant manager cleared his throat with obvious trepidation. "Excuse me Miss and Sir," he said in a high voice, "But I'm going to have to ask you to… not do this in here."

Ino snapped around to level the man with a dangerous look and the poor guy wilted under the force of her gaze. But then she had an abrupt mood change and she smiled widely. Choji and Shikamaru both instantly recognized it as her I'm-going-to-get-us-out- of-trouble-by-using-my-superhuman-charms-on-this-mere-mortal smile. And what was irritating, to Shikamaru at least, was that it almost always worked.

"I'm so sorry," she said with that bright smile and intense eye-contact, leaning in towards the man a bit, "My friend here was being less than a gentleman, and you know how important it is, to a woman, to make sure that you're treated well."

Choji snorted, but the manager completely missed it, staring back at Ino. "Of course," he squeaked.

Ino flipped her hair and then began wrapping a lock of it around one of her fingers. "We won't cause any more trouble here. This is such a beautiful restaurant."

"Thank you," the manager managed weakly.

Ino dropped the lock of hair and bit her lip, leaning even closer to the man, who had started sweating.

Shikamaru felt annoyed.

"So we can stay and finish our meal?" Ino asked sweetly.

"O-of course," the man said, "Here, let me help you to a new table."

Shikamaru stood grumpily and Choji had his arms crossed in contempt as the manager actually moved their dishes to a new table and actually pulled Ino's chair out for her. "Let me know i-if there's anything else I can do for you," he said, staring a moment more before fleeing quickly.

Ino waited until he was out of sight before dropping her smile and pointing at Choji. "No more laughing. I _will_ beat you up."

* * *

**End of Chapter 1.**

**This story is so much fun for me to write. It is a (secret) song-fic. But that's all I have to say about that.**

**Also- my brilliant friend The Laughing Fool has done an _awesome_ fanart for it at: **

**http:/ /little- -frog . deviantart . com/art/Rough-Night-251573996 (without the spaces).  
**

**Anyway, review please. I love feedback!**

**-CR**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Summary: **He felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it.

**Pairing:** ShikaIno (Like it won't be obvious within seconds).

If you don't like this pairing then you'd be something of an idiot if you read this anyway. If you want to flame then I'll go ahead and copy/paste this warning in reply. Please don't be silly.

**Warning:** Gratuitious smexiness. Multi-chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Oh good heavens, if only I owned it. Then I could fix certain things...

**Thanks to my beta: The Laughing Fool.**

**Chapter Dedication:** Liltle.

* * *

Choji stopped laughing afterwards. Around Ino. But not around Shikamaru. He tried to explain his continued delight, "See, you… so rarely do something that I can _really_ make fun of you for. Because you spend so much of your time sleeping, playing shogi, or being brilliant. So this… is kind of a truly great experience for me."

Shikamaru at the moment was actually trying his best to go to sleep. Ino had headed up to their room with them, grabbed her bag, and then rushed away saying something about shopping and being back later.

Choji was making Shikamaru's efforts to sleep kinda pointless. "Ino would kill you if she heard that you say that having sex with her is something to made fun of."

"Which is why I would- _never- _say something like that around her," Choji said in complete seriousness, before going on, "Besides I'm not saying that _that_ is the stupid part. I'm saying that the situation is… brilliant. I'm proud of you. You are a human after all."

Shikamaru didn't bother answering that one.

Choji was silent for a moment as well. "Seriously though, I've _never_ seen you drink that much before. What's up?"

Shikamaru scowled. "Ino kept saying to have more."

"Yeah, but since when do you listen to Ino?" Choji said.

"We're on vacation."

"Are you planning to get that smashed every night?"

Would it lead to a repeat? Maybe if he had a bit less then he would be able to remember it.

"No."

"Jeez, why are you so snappy at _me_?" Choji said.

"You've been bugging me all day."

It always kind of made Shikamaru happy that Choji was able to brush comments like that off with no problem whatsoever. Choji was confident enough in his friendships now.

"Well yeah," Choji said, "You _slept_ with _Ino_. And acted like an ass all of last night." He couldn't help the slight grin of fondness at the memory. "Man, you were such an idiot."

Shikamaru didn't bother responding.

"If you tell me when you stopped remembering I'll fill you in on the rest," Choji offered.

"I'm going to sleep," Shikamaru said, readjusting his hands cushioning his hand, and firmly shutting his eyes.

He woke up awhile later as the slam of the door announced Choji's exit. He easily went back to sleep and when he woke up again it was to the smell of chocolate and the sound of the television. Choji had returned. Shikamaru's hangover was still in effect so he decided to fall asleep again.

He was finally forced awake when the door slammed spectacularly shut and the lights clicked on with an astounding brightness. Ino was back. There was the sound of a lot of bags hitting each other before the sound stopped altogether. "I can't believe that you two spent the day doing nothing."

"I'm happy," Choji said from in front of the television. He'd kept the volume down so that Shikamaru could sleep.

"This is what you do every day in Konoha!" Ino exploded, "We came all the way here and you haven't left the hotel room!"

Shikamaru groaned and covered his eyes with his palms, hiding from the intense light. "I've been sleeping off a hangover," he said, "since you decided that you wouldn't heal it."

Ino set the bags down and slipped off her shoes. "Well you were being a jerk," she said contemptuously, activating her chakra and touching his forehead as she walked by.

All residual pain instantly cleared. She'd already crossed the room to examine the candy that Choji had bought. "Are those filled with cherries or raspberries?" she asked, poking at the chocolates.

"Raspberries," he answered, leaning over to see around her.

"Gross," she commented, crossed the room again, and then yanked her numerous bags over to her bed. She smoothed out the comforter and then sat cross-legged on it, pulling up a bag and dumping its contents in front of her. The bag emptied with a loud clatter.

Shikamaru winced. Damn, she was loud.

"Naruto was right, this place has a great shopping district. They have _everything_, it's fantastic."

Shikamaru sat up and leaned against the back of the couch. There was no point in trying to sleep when Ino was feeling talkative.

"Yeah?" Choji said blandly while still watching the television.

"Yes. You _have_ to go there with me tomorrow. Both of you."

"I don't like to shop," Shikamaru said.

"Liar," Ino returned instantly, "You're just cranky because I woke you up. You always are."

"Though it never stops you from waking me up," Shikamaru said darkly.

"Yeah, well, you don't mean it. You'll get over it in a few minutes."

Choji agreed with Ino, though he knew better than to say anything. Ino had just ensured an extended cranky-time from Shikamaru. Purely out of spite. But he knew that Shikamaru wouldn't keep it up too much longer, that kind of thing took too much energy.

"Oh, Choji, this is for you," Ino said. Choji got up and started heading towards her. Ino tossed it carelessly at him.

Choji's eyes widened. "_To Possess the Evening_," he read, staring at the DVD case. "You actually found it."

"I told you that they have a great shopping district. Far better than Konoha's pathetic offerings," Ino said.

Shikamaru sighed. "You shouldn't encourage that, Ino."

Choji had one habit that Shikamaru disapproved of. And that was his strange love of romantic books and movies.

Asuma had always found it interesting. "That'll be handy when you're older. Just think of it as advice."

Shikamaru had treated the entire thing with complete scorn. Girls were troublesome and annoying, and romance was even worse. It'd made Asuma grin which only served to further irritate Shikamaru. He _knew_ that the man was thinking that he'd take it all back someday.

As though Shikamaru was the type to _ever_ fall head-over-heels in love with someone. He was far too smart to act like such an idiot.

Except when he was drunk, obviously.

Ino ignored Shikamaru's comment. Choji's interest in romance had always been a commonality between them. They'd borrowed each other's books and movies. It had caused Shikamaru, when he was nine (after all they'd known each other since toddler-dom), to try and repress his gag-reflex long enough to ask Choji if he _liked_ Ino.

"Nah," Choji had said, "Not as in, wanting to be all romancy and stuff. But she's got a lotta great movies and there's always a lot to talk about."

And he'd said it so _casually_ too.

"I've been wanting this movie for-" Choji began.

"Like a year," Ino interrupted, nodding, "But it's not main-stream enough. I'm watching that with you later."

"Sure," Choji said, turning the case over to gaze at the back.

And Choji _still_ wasn't interested in Ino in a 'romancy' way.

"Choji, don't watch that," Shikamaru said disapprovingly, though knowing that it was utterly useless.

Ino shuffled through her bags. "Don't get all jealous," she said, "I got you something too."

She located the thing and threw it at Shikamaru who caught it easily. It was a new set of exploding tags.

"You used up all of yours on that last mission when you went with Kiba, right?" she said, "And you _never_ restock on your own. But check it out!" Ino said, her tone excited and then she was kneeling beside the couch, taking the package and turning it over. "With these you can actually make it meld into their skin, so they can't just tear it off. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen."

Shikamaru blinked at the package. "What's this doing in a civilian village?" he said, taking it out of her hands.

Ino propped herself up higher on the edge of the couch and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "See, the vendor said that it had to be activated with a certain amount of chakra first. Not a lot, but a specific amount. And he was saying that no one here even _has_ chakra, but even if they did, they have no way of activating such a specific level. He just sells it to people that want to pretend that they're dangerous ninjas."

"That doesn't sound like a good idea at all," Choji said.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Ino said, glancing over. "But don't worry," she said, looking back at Shikamaru, "I talked to the guy and he let me test them on some wooden poles and they're completely safe. Well, except for destroying what they meld with."

Ino was always really good at details. Shikamaru had never specifically mentioned that he'd run out exploding tags. She just had already known how much he had and then she must have pieced it together from what he'd told her and Choji after they'd bugged him about it and what Kiba had said in his boastful story-telling.

Ino was staring at him. "Say thank you," she said.

Shikamaru put the package down by the side of the couch. "Thank you."

She seemed pleased enough and headed back to her bed to continue going through her packages. Choji crossed over to examine her loot as well. "Wow, that's a lot of toys."

"Yeah, I kept finding things for Hotaru."

Shikamaru looked over with interest and finally got up to go see what all she'd gotten as well.

Hotaru was the daughter of Kurenai and Asuma. She was a pretty little thing and Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru would all visit her and Kurenai from time-to-time. It had somehow turned into a sort of sibling relationship and Hotaru was always excited to see them. Mostly because they gave her lots of attention and shamelessly spoiled her. Choji would take her out to enjoy barbeque, Ino would take her out shopping, and Shikamaru would hang out with her at parks letting her run wild while he lazily watched her.

Kurenai had given her such a sentimental name. Hotaru- lightening bug, envoy of spirits.

And also a reference for men who were forced to smoke outside of their homes.

As it turned out, the majority of Ino's purchases were aimed towards Hotaru and Kurenai. There was a ridiculous amount of clothing and hair accessories and colorful children's jewelry. Then there were toy kunai and toy blades. Stuffed animals. Picture books. Children's tools for 'gardening.'

"Oh, and here. Child friendly shogi set," Ino said, passing a box to Shikamaru. "It's _really_ big so she can't accidentally choke on it or whatever."

"You know that Hotaru's four, right?" Choji said. "How can she play shogi?"

"You just let her move the pieces around and then pretend like she won," Ino said dismissively, "Don't you know anything about children? She'll love it."

"What's in those?" Choji asked, pointing at some bags that Ino had tucked close to the wall.

"Nothing for you to worry about," Ino said, shifting her eyes towards them and then back to the mound of children's stuff.

"Oh. Girly stuff," Choji said.

Ino nodded absently, "Uh-huh. They have a much better selection than in Konoha. I already told you."

"You realize that you have to carry all of this stuff back," Shikamaru said.

"You guys can carry the stuff for Hotaru and Kurenai. And your junk as well."

"Why would we carry that for you?"

"So then you can say that the stuff came from you guys as well. I don't think that you really have any money left, Shikamaru," Ino said, "That room was _really_ expensive."

Shikamaru winced slightly at that. He'd figured that it'd been expensive, but preferably on the cheaper side of expensive. And while it was one thing to ask Ino to pay for something it was a different matter to ask her to pay him _back_ for something that she hadn't asked him to get.

"Where'd you guys stay?" Choji asked.

"You remember that really tall building with the big windows and the large entryway?" Ino said.

Choji's eyes widened and he whistled. "Wow, the really fancy place?"

"Yeah. It was gorgeous inside," Ino said with a nod.

"What a waste though," Choji said thoughtfully, "Neither of you even remember it."

"Yeah," Ino said, "Hey, I saw a great-looking barbeque place downtown, Choji. We can all go eat there and you can pay for Shikamaru."

* * *

With his hangover gone, Shikamaru discovered that he was starving. He hadn't eaten yet that day and as far as he knew, he hadn't eaten much the night before, either. And it was handy that Choji was willing to pay for him so he could eat as much as he wanted. When it came to spending his teammates' money, Shikamaru never felt any hesitations or reservations. They had money and he didn't.

Ino kept up her tradition of lamenting over her diet and then eating whatever she felt like. Then partway through the meal, she looked towards the other side of the restaurant and suddenly choked.

Shikamaru and Choji kept eating completely unconcerned as Ino took a couple of minutes to regain her ability to breathe and she took a moment to give them a nasty look before staring across the room again.

Shikamaru looked up in time to see her lick her lips thoughtfully and shove her plate away from herself and towards Choji who automatically took it and added the leftover food to his own plate. Shikamaru sighed.

_Stupid_ Ino.

There must be a good-looking guy across the room.

Ino continued to stare and her eyes widened for a moment before she looked down at the table and blushed prettily. If he hadn't seen this act before, Shikamaru would have thought that it was her natural reaction. The guy had made eye-contact.

He must be _really_ good-looking.

Ino glanced over again and Shikamaru instinctively kicked her underneath the table. She jumped and winced. "_Ow_," she said angrily, turning a dark scowl to Shikamaru. Choji looked up in interest.

"You're a spectacle," Shikamaru said to her.

Ino leaned back against the booth wall and sharply returned his kick, slamming her foot flatly against his leg hard enough that the side of the booth that Shikamaru and Choji were sharing shook slightly.

"I'm never healing anything else for you ever again," Ino said.

"You're unreasonable," Shikamaru muttered.

"You _kicked_ me!" Ino exclaimed.

Shikamaru moved his leg gingerly. If he weren't so used to pain he'd be walking with a limp after this. Ino was a strong little jerk.

"You _kicked_ her?" Choji said, looking at Shikamaru.

Ino pulled her leg closer to her and rubbed her hands over her ankle. "What the hell? What's wrong with you?"

"You're always acting like an idiot," Shikamaru said, "Can't you give it a break for once?"

Ino's temper flared. "Jealous much?" she said nastily.

Shikamaru's eyes widened, but his retort was cut off by the arrival of an _extremely_ good-looking guy. He smiled at Ino, whose demeanor changed _instantly_ to that of a harmless pretty girl. The guy's smile broke for half a moment as he glanced at Choji and Shikamaru.

"Am I interrupting…?" he asked uncertainly.

"No, not at all," Ino said with a charming smile.

"Good," the guy said with a smile charming enough to match Ino's.

Shikamaru sighed loudly. Ino's smile tightened for half a second, but then she tuned out her two companions completely. "Are _you_ here with anyone?" she asked.

"No one important," he said.

Shikamaru snorted derisively. What a nice guy.

"I haven't seen you before," the guy said, "I'd remember."

Ino laughed. "I'm not from around here. Unfortunately."

Her smile took on a seriously seductive edge.

Even Choji frowned at that.

"That figures," the guy said, "There's only so much time for me to show you around. How about you come with me and I'll show you the sights."

"I'd love to see the sights," Ino replied, standing up and smirking at the guy. She gave a spiteful look at Shikamaru and then flounced off, letting the guy take hold of her hand.

Ino didn't date wildly anymore, but she _flourished_ under male attention. _Especially_ from good-looking guys.

"She better be back tonight," Choji said, his eyes lingering at the door that the two had disappeared through.

Shikamaru moved to the place Ino had vacated. There was no point in he and Choji sitting side-by-side. "She didn't pay," he said.

Choji's gaze flew to Ino's side of the table, void of any cash.

"Dammit," Choji said with a scowl. "She owes me for this."

"She won't pay you back," Shikamaru said.

Choji looked at Shikamaru consideringly. "You _are_ acting like a jealous jerk, though."

"No I'm not," Shikamaru said. He had a slight urge to hurt Choji as well.

Choji took a drink of his water. "_And_ you made the first move last night," Choji said.

"No I didn't," Shikamaru said, his tone warningly irritated.

Choji watched Shikamaru for a moment. "Fine," he said, "Believe what you want."

Shikamaru used the advantage of Ino's non-presence in order to shower without having someone knocking at the bathroom door and whining about their turn. When he came out it was to see Choji cleaning the hotel room. Choji was kind of obsessive about that sort of thing, it bothered him if things went untreated for too long, which was handy because neither Shikamaru or Ino were into cleaning at all.

Shikamaru was still feeling kind of irritated, so he began preparing his bed in silence. There were two beds in the hotel room, Ino had claimed one and Choji the other. Choji would have been willing to share, but he was a pretty big guy and there wasn't a lot of room. Shikamaru was more than fine with the pull-out bed from the couch. Sleep was a good thing, he didn't care about where.

And thus he was pretty sure that it was Ino's fault they had ended up at such an expensive hotel last night.

His leg ached. He'd examined it earlier to see that it was already a disgusting black color, swollen and edged in red. Ino hadn't been aiming to break his leg, but she'd been looking to hurt him pretty badly. And he hadn't bothered dodging even though he _knew_ how hard she could hit.

"Hey guys," Ino said as she swung open the door and let it fall shut behind her.

"Hey," Choji replied, "How were the sights?"

"Boring. That guy was a loser."

"A good-looking loser," Choji offered.

"Yeah. But not good-looking enough to make up for being that stupid."

I'm smart.

Shikamaru frowned at himself. The timing of that particular thought was less than welcome.

"You're only ever interested in dumb guys," he said.

Ino hesitated, her temper teetering on the edge of a sharp and dangerous knife. She apparently decided to go ahead and employ her non-violent mood. "I'm interested in _good-looking_ guys. Stupidity is a real turnoff."

"How bad was it?" Choji asked, wiping down the counter of the mini-kitchenette.

Ino rolled her eyes. "_Bad._ First of all, he was trying to act all tough and started doing tricks with a knife and he ended up cutting himself. And then he started going on and on about the proper way to treat wounds, but got the whole process of bleeding and clotting and coagulation and- just everything really, completely wrong. It was pathetic."

Even Shikamaru had to smile. It was the mean little smile of someone hearing bad news about someone they don't like.

"I try to give civilians a bit of break because they're… _civilians_. But he didn't even know the most _basic_ of sciences, and civilians are taught science," Ino said with contempt.

Ino was actually particularly good at science and math. She had a very methodical mind and the factual concepts came to her easily. But Ino also had this strange habit of believing that her base level of knowledge was the common base level of knowledge. So she was always particularly harsh with people who didn't understand things like she did.

"So you ditched him?" Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. I wanted to come back and watch _To Possess the Evening_. You up for it Choji?"

"Hell yeah," he said.

Shikamaru sighed. "If you watch it here then I have to hear it."

"Perfect," Ino said, picking up the DVD case from Choji's bed and throwing it to him.

It was something of a mystery how Shikamaru ended up watching the movie with them. One moment he had been lounging on his bed, thinking about how stupid the movie sounded, and then he was somehow, _magically_, sitting on the floor and leaning against the couch, watching ridiculously beautiful people bemoan the romantic tragedies of their lives.

Choji was stuck on the floor with him since Ino had decided that she needed the entirety of the couch to sprawl out on. She'd shoved Shikamaru to the side at one point. "Move to the left or the right, I can't see," she hissed in his ear

He'd raised his shoulder defensively, frowning, but shifted right without looking away from the television screen.

What Choji and Ino both knew, and Shikamaru did not, was how _long_ the movie was. It was outrageous to have a three-hour-long movie that seemed to be about _nothing_. Ino was distracting though.

To Shikamaru, at least.

She'd keep sitting up and then she'd hold onto his shoulder, using it to keep herself upright, while reaching for the pile of sweets by Choji. And then she'd startled the hell out of him, by sneaking an arm around him in order to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl that had mysteriously appeared in his lap. Not to mention that, after awhile, he'd leaned all the way back against the couch and his head was level with the edge, which had made Ino readjust until she was lying near the edge as well, with her arm dangling off the side. Her arm remained in constant contact with his side and her long hair tickled his skin.

"Wow," Choji said as the credits finally rolled and the room went dark.

"Exactly," Ino sighed, her breath against Shikamaru's ear.

He shied away, resisting a shiver. Ino moved to sit up and her hand trailed up his side, her fingers seemingly lingering on his back before disappearing. "Get off of me," he muttered.

"I'm not on you," Ino said. She was sitting up then and searching fruitlessly for leftover food. "Really, Choji? All of it?"

"It was a three hour movie," Choji said flatly.

"We've still got the ice cream," Ino said.

Thus came the third step in the romantic-movie-watching tradition. After step one (getting comfy) and step two (pressing play) came step three, which was the procuring of ice cream followed by deep discussion of the movie.

It was disheartening to sit there and listen to the two people that he was closest to in the world, discuss a ridiculous movie as though it were a meaningful religion. In Shikamaru's opinion, anyway. But the one time that he said something to that effect, both Ino and Choji had glared at him and told him to shut up and back off.

Which led to him heading back over to his bed (pouting) and doing his best to tune them out.

It used to be that Choji and Ino would share a tub of ice cream, but as the years had passed, the discussions had gotten longer, and Choji had (very slightly) rebelled against Ino's choices, they now had two _different_ tubs of ice cream. So Choji sat at the table savoring his choice of Peanut-Butter Delight (which made Ino gag) while Ino sat on her bed eating Strawberry Short-Cake Explosion.

There were two parts that were bothering Shikamaru. Number one was that, due to the fact that the kitchen and Ino's bed were not near each other at all, both Ino and Choji were speaking _really_ loudly. Number two was that, due to the fact that the couch was in between the distance of those two, he was bombarded with a sickeningly combined scent of peanut butter and strawberry cake.

"I'm in two minds about the movie," Choji said, gathering a large amount of ice cream on his spoon, "I liked the main couple, but the other one wasn't that great."

"What, you mean Shisuke and Mizumi?" Ino said, "I don't know. It _did_ kind of feel like something was off, but I couldn't really pinpoint it."

Shikamaru knew instantly what they were talking about.

"Yeah," Choji said, "I just… I just didn't _like_ them. Maybe that's all there is to it."

Ino frowned. "I _liked_ Shisuke. And he liked Mizumi. So it was good that he ended up with her."

"Did you like him enough that it covered for not liking Mizumi?" Choji asked.

Ino wiped a dot of ice cream off her lower lip with her finger and then sucked her finger clean. Shikamaru averted his eyes.

"I didn't _dislike_ Mizumi. So Shisuke should have more than made up for it. Mizumi was completely harmless. And it wasn't the same as just not caring about them as a couple. I felt kind of…"

"Uncomfortable," Choji said with a nod. He was a much faster eater than Ino and was already scraping the bottom of his ice cream container. "Which is really weird."

"…yeah," Ino said, more interested in stirring the melting remains of her ice cream than eating it. "Do you think it's because they just didn't have chemistry? Major chemistry issues?"

"No. I've seen lots of movies with couples that have no chemistry. And then it's just boring."

Ino frowned. "Maybe-"

Shikamaru interrupted them with a sigh. "It's because Mizumi was a weak and helpless female character and Shisuke was this big masculine hero that helped her do every little thing. And the movie kept trying to sell this idea that Mizumi was a capable human, but she couldn't even _run_ without falling down, which meant that the real idea they were selling was that even supposedly capable women are incompetent. And Shisuke acted like that was _attractive_. Shisuke was also a complete jackass most of the time. The storyline was lame _and_ they didn't have any chemistry."

Ino and Choji were both quiet for a moment, digesting that analysis.

"So _of course_ you liked Shisuke, Ino," Shikamaru said with disgust, "He's the type you usually go for, right?"

Choji choked. "Jeez," he managed after a moment.

Ino stared at Shikamaru in silence though he didn't return her gaze. She finally put her ice cream container down on the floor with methodical precision. Both boys tensed slightly, expecting a violent retaliation.

"I hope not," Ino said evenly. "Though it's no business of yours."

Shikamaru gave a half-shrug.

There was another silence which Choji finally broke.

"I really liked the main couple though. And when he found out that she'd had that accident while he was fighting in the war!"

Ino's contemplative expression lasted half a second more before she determinedly pushed whatever thoughts were behind it away. She picked up her ice cream again and took a bite. "I know!" she replied to Choji, "And so then he got injured on purpose so he could go back and join her!"

* * *

**A/N.**

**You all _spoiled_ me with those reviews. I was _not_ expecting that kind of reaction, so thank you all very, VERY much. My return gift is this really fast update. I offer the same for the next.  
**

**Any questions/comments/concerns?**

**Requests?**

**Thanks for the feedback!**

**-CR**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Summary: **He felt annoyed. He finally had sex with Ino and he couldn't remember it.

**Pairing:** ShikaIno (Like it isn't obvious by this point).

If you don't like this pairing then you'd be something of an idiot if you read this anyway. If you want to flame then I'll go ahead and copy/paste this warning in reply. Please don't be silly.

**Warning:** Gratuitious smexiness (eventually). Multi-chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Oh good heavens, if only I owned it. Then I could fix certain things...

**Thanks to my beta: The Laughing Fool.**

**Chapter Dedication:** Troubled Clouds.

* * *

Shikamaru woke up that night to the sound of Ino's sudden gasp followed immediately by her footsteps heading to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her and the fan being slammed on.

"The hell?" Choji muttered thickly from across the room.

The shower turned on within seconds.

"It's three in the morning," Choji said.

There weren't any follow-up sounds of her getting in the shower. So it was pretty obvious.

"She's crying," Shikamaru said.

"Ah," Choji replied.

Shikamaru turned on his side, dozing lightly, knowing that he'd have to wake up when she finally came back out. The shower turned off about half an hour later and Ino came out shortly afterwards, moving quickly and silently back to her bed and shuffling under the covers.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked tiredly.

Ino's voice was muffled by her pillow. Even so her voice still sounded slightly hoarse. "Nothing."

"Bad dream?" Choji said.

Ino sighed. "Uh-huh."

The three were quiet again. "Asuma or Ikeda?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino's breathing stilled. "It was nothing," she managed in an unquestionably wavering voice.

"Ikeda?" Choji asked gently.

The three of them despised killing. It rarely came up, in all honesty. Most of their missions involved escorting people or items, capturing enemies, or stealing. All ninjas were taught to kill only if directly ordered or if absolutely necessary.

Though everyone who worked as a ninja long enough ended up killing someone, it was inevitable.

Asuma had acknowledged that stark reality by training his team using genjutsus. All three had had to kill someone within the genjutsu. Asuma said that it would make them hesitate less when the real situation finally presented itself.

Shikamaru had first killed someone when he was fourteen, Ino when she was sixteen, and Choji when he was seventeen.

For the next two weeks after he had first killed someone, Shikamaru's father took to playing shogi with him constantly. Shikaku was the only person who could ever really challenge Shikamaru at the game and it was the only way to keep his mind occupied. Shikaku knew that. He could see his son spacing off during the games and watched the way his movements became jerky during his next move.

With Ino, killing made her physically ill. She'd been in an enemy's mind and forced the woman to walk off the edge of a cliff. The woman had been a talented ninja with many tricks so Ino hadn't vacated her body until there wasn't enough time for the woman to react. It had been terrifying, and when she returned to her own body, which Shikamaru had been holding onto, she broke out of his grasp to drop to her knees and retch.

Choji handled it the best of the three. He readily acknowledged that he was the simplest of his team and he often thought that he was the luckiest because of it. Killing was sometimes necessary. It was either a job handed down by somebody who had thought carefully and had the ability to authorize such contracts, or else it was a situation that an enemy had forced them into. But killing people made him cry big stupid tears that he'd quickly wipe off of his tattooed cheeks, tears that his teammates both discreetly ignored.

They'd managed to keep the body count extremely low. Ino had had to kill three people, Choji seven, and Shikamaru thirteen.

In situations where killing became inevitable, Shikamaru always did his best to manipulate the situation so that he would be the one to end up doing it.

The Ikeda incident had been a horribly mangled mission. They'd been hired to escort a sixteen-year-old boy, his mother, and his grandfather from Konoha to the land of Waves. It had been strange from the beginning, with three clients acting far more worried than the class of mission called for.

Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all agreed that the clients had most likely lied about the level of danger. None of them were expecting the ambush in the form of the grandfather attacking his daughter and grandson. The appearance of other enemies heightened the suddenly considerable danger and their cell was split.

The woman ended up being killed. They'd had to kill a fair amount of the enemy ninjas before the rest retreated. The grandson had been badly wounded, infected with a poison. Ino had managed to get him away and she tried healing the poison, but it didn't work.

The poison was a vicious strain that was always fatal and that would start off painful and become excruciating. It was meant as a torture against those that had information. It usually took around three hours before it would stop the heart.

The boy had begged Ino to kill him, which she did by piercing his heart. She'd made it quick, but he'd been in pain before dying and he'd been gripping her hand in his sweaty and shaking fist.

That death hit Ino _hard_.

She'd made it back to Konoha, helped report their utterly failed mission, and then disappeared into her home for over two weeks. Shikamaru didn't see her again until he went to retrieve her for another mission.

He and Choji discovered that she had dreams about it from time to time. Not that she said anything, but they'd been on enough overnight missions to have picked up on the fact.

"Go to sleep," Ino said in a breaking voice.

Shikamaru gave a silent sigh, stood up and walked barefoot over to Ino's bed. "Move over," he said, barely giving her a chance before climbing onto the bed and putting an arm around her.

She'd lost the blanket at some point, but he was able to reach it and pull it back up. It was a sign of how upset she was that Ino didn't say anything.

"That one wasn't your fault," Shikamaru said, "Go back to sleep."

"Don't tell me what to do," Ino said tearfully into her pillow.

"You're going to be tired and cranky tomorrow and we're all stuck in the same room."

Ino was a person who had gotten used to a certain amount of sleep. She didn't need much, far less, actually, than what could be considered normal, but if she didn't get that amount she'd be somewhat cruel the next day.

"Shut up," she said into her pillow, muffling her voice, though it didn't hide the fact that she was lightly crying. "_You_ go to sleep."

"You're troublesome," Shikamaru said.

"No I'm not," Ino said, voice heavily muffled by her pillow.

She had turned onto her stomach. He wasn't sure how she could breathe, but she seemed to be managing. He let his arm rest across her back.

"Yes you are."

"I am _not_ troublesome," Ino said and there was now a definite tinge of irritation in her voice.

"You're awake at three in the morning, bugging Choji and me."

"I told you to go sleep," Ino said, her tone much sharper.

Good, she was almost irritated enough. Nothing brought Ino back to her usual self quite like getting angry. Taunting was good for her, she was far too defiant to give in.

Choji knew better than to join in. Anytime that he tried to openly taunt her, she'd instantly figure it out and would ignore it with a toss of her head. But Shikamaru was an _expert_ at getting a rise out of her. And even if Choji used the same jibes with the same intonation he could _never_ get the same spectacular results that Shikamaru did.

"Typical troublesome little girl," Shikamaru said, just barely keeping his smirk hidden.

Ino shrugged jerkily in an attempt to get his arm off her back. "What do you know? You're just a stupid little boy taking naps and playing games!"

Choji grinned. Not only was Ino feeling better, but that was also a great depiction of Shikamaru. He enjoyed these exchanges.

"And you're just a spoiled princess," Shikamaru said in a decidedly bored tone.

"Get off of my bed, you jerk!" Ino demanded, jamming her shoulder into his side so that only his quick reflexes got him to his feet in time.

She rose to the occasion. Every. Single. Time.

"Whatever," he said, crossing back to his bed and melting into it.

"Goodnight," Ino snapped, violently wrapping her blanket around herself.

"Night," Choji said pleasantly enough.

Everyone was asleep within ten minutes.

* * *

"Hey. Shikamaru."

No way. There was _no way_ that she was up this early. The sunlight was still far too pale to be any later than eight a.m.

"Go away."

"Don't be rude," Ino said, poking his shoulder hard.

She was actually _sitting_ on his bed. As though she had full permission to be there. Which she did _not._

"Just wake up now and take a nap later," Choji said from across the room.

Shikamaru growled something incomprehensible at the traitor and did his best to suffocate himself. How the hell could Ino stay up so late and wake up so early in the mornings? Only sadists were morning people.

So it actually made sense that Ino would be a morning person.

"Hey," Ino said again, "Wake up."

"_What_?" Shikamaru snapped, finally sitting up and glaring with tired eyes.

Ino smiled at him. She looked bright and alert. "Let me braid your hair."

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment. "No."

"It'll look really good. Just let me do it."

"Are you joking? No."

"Let me braid your hair and I'll let you sleep another hour," Ino said with such a smirk.

Manipulative little weasel. Preying on his weaknesses.

"No."

Ino frowned at him with cold calculation before she thought to mask it with a pretty pout. "I wouldn't do anything that wouldn't look good," she said, "And you've let me put your hair up before and you seemed fine enough with that."

Shikamaru watched her impressive performance with his hand propping up his head. "No."

Ino's pout turned angrier and she gave him a quick grimace. "Fine. Do what you always do and it'll be as effective as it always is."

She stood up and they eyed each other with dislike. Then her expression suddenly brightened. "Hey Choji!"

"_No_."

Half an hour later found Shikamaru sitting at the table with a cup of coffee nearby while laying his head on his arms watching as Choji made their beds and Ino braided her _own_ hair.

"There," she finally declared, standing up and showing off. "It looks great, doesn't it?"

The French braids were definitely pretty. On a _girl_.

"You look like you're fourteen," Shikamaru said dismissively.

"Jeez, just give me a compliment for once!" Ino exclaimed. "And I don't look like I'm fourteen. I had short hair when I was fourteen."

No, it was growing out by then.

Shikamaru frowned at himself once _again_ at how unwelcome certain thoughts were. Why on earth should he remember how long Ino's hair was when she was fourteen?

I remember everything regardless. There's nothing unusual about knowing that.

Sasuke had been gone by that point, so it wasn't him that she was keeping her hair long for and that was why Shikamaru had finally been able to admit to himself that he _liked_ long hair on girls. He'd been firmly against that idea beforehand.

"Hey, the breakfast buffet is open now!" Choji said excitedly, glancing at the clock.

Ino grabbed hold of his arm, "Take what you need now, because you're both coming shopping with me after breakfast."

Choji pulled his arm away and headed out the door. "I've got everything I need. See you downstairs!"

Ino frowned, sighed, and walked over to where he had a pristine pile of clothes and dug through it before finally locating a pair of pants and pulling a wallet out of the pocket. She added it to her own bag and then looked at Shikamaru who'd been idly watching her. "You're coming shopping too," she said.

He stood up and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know."

He followed Choji's route and Ino sighed _again_ as she grabbed the hotel card that neither boy had bothered to take and then went to join them.

* * *

The markets were actually really good. Choji got interested immediately. He was always a bit secretive about a certain aspect of his life which is what had clued Shikamaru and Ino onto the fact that Choji had a _sweetheart_. What was really interesting, though, was the fact that he wouldn't tell them who it was, and even with Shikamaru's impressive observation skills and Ino's energetic curiosity and meddling, they both remained in the dark about who it was.

Choji liked to buy this mystery girl many different things. Ino had once told Shikamaru how proud of Choji she was. He'd taken all those messages from their romantic sources to heart, he bought all of the proper things that a doting romantic interest should, and he'd occasionally asked Ino's advice about what was appropriate and what wasn't.

"Plus Choji likes cleaning," Ino had said, reaching her conclusion, "That girl is damn lucky and she'd better not break his heart."

Shikamaru was cushioning his head while lying on the grass and watching the clouds in the sky. It was a good day for it. "You'd love to know who it is, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would," Ino said, continuing her work on a chain of flowers. "But I'm not going to _try_ and figure it out, he must have some sort of reason for not telling us. Though he better not wait _forever_, because I need to know eventually."

"Wow," Shikamaru commented, "You're not going to have a stake-out? I'm surprised."

He half-expected her get a bit worked up, but she gave a smile and tossed her flower chain on his chest. "See, you approve of me sometimes," she said and laid back on the ground, nestling until comfortable, "Wake me up when it's time to go," she murmured, shielding her face and closing her eyes.

He'd glanced over at her and looked back at the sky with a slight smile.

But the fact that they weren't allowed to know _who_ Choji's lady-friend made it difficult to shop with him. And it was, admittedly, frustrating for Ino because she _loved_ shopping for girly things, but she wasn't allowed to help Choji since it would mark the lady Choji liked if there was suddenly a female going around wearing things that Ino had picked out.

So Choji had splintered away from them, leaving Ino and Shikamaru to travel together.

It _was_ actually a pleasant time. Ino had done a lot of her personal shopping the day before so she was actually interested in showing Shikamaru things that _he _was interested in, though that wasn't to say that something '_cuuuuuute!'_ wouldn't catch her eye, making her drag him off.

And it also wasn't to say that she didn't force him over to a jewelry stand and tease him endlessly about the different earrings he should buy. Though he _literally_ didn't have the money (not that he would ever buy the flowery, frilly things that she kept pushing at him); Ino hadn't been lying about how much that hotel had cost.

"Okay, seriously, how about these," Ino said, holding up a pair that was almost a carbon copy of what he already had with just the slightest change in tint.

Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to buy it for you," Ino said decisively, "Though it's really more appropriate for _boys_ to buy _girls_ jewelry, but I'll make an exception."

"I'm not asking-" Shikamaru began.

Ino interrupted him with a wave of her hand. "_Everyone_ likes gifts of jewelry," and then she was already paying in the time it took him to blink.

It was the only thing that she bought at that jewelry stand.

Then she kept buying things that she said were for Choji and things that she insisted were for her, but absolutely were not. He watched her buy a brown and green striped scarf (colors she virtually never wore, and without any hint of something 'girly'), he raised an eyebrow and Ino's response, after a pause, was a large, completely unabashed smile.

And after they left that particular shop and were walking again, he said, "You're buying me things."

"It's for my benefit," Ino said cheerfully, "I always have to see you dressed like that. You seriously need a new look."

No way that was true. The two of them, through pure coincidence, actually dressed fairly similarly.

"Stop buying me things," Shikamaru said.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I'll go back to the hotel right now."

"Fine," Ino said in a manner that Shikamaru _knew_ wasn't sincere.

"Ino," Shikamaru began with a sigh, but he was cut off once again.

"Hey guys," Choji said cheerfully.

"All finished?" Ino said.

"Yeah. Wow. That's a lot of stuff," Choji said, eyeing Ino's numerous bags, and the fair amount Shikamaru was holding, which surely belonged to Ino as well. "I'm not sure we're really going to be able to get all of our things back."

"It'll work out," Ino said dismissively.

"Hey! Here you are!"

Ino sighed in irritation and turned around. "Here I am," she said, "What do you want?"

Shikamaru and Choji turned as well and found the pretty guy from the night before. The guy was staring at Ino who was returning his gaze with a bored irritation. It was a complete switch from her previous interest.

"You left last night," the guy said.

"I did," Ino said impatiently.

The guy's expression was morphing into a glare as Ino continued her complete disinterest. "You seemed like you were ready for a good time last night."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and Choji frowned. There was a complete difference between the two of them taunting Ino and this guy taunting Ino.

"The fact that I left should have clued you in to the fact that I wasn't," Ino said.

"What the hell, babe? You thought you'd ditch me? Lead me on?"

They were gathering the attention of nearby people. Shikamaru watched the guy unpleasantly.

Ino's expression was disdainful, making it clear that the guy before her was the most pathetic thing she'd ever seen. "You're boring. And stupid. I figured that you'd rather me leave than laugh in your face."

Choji smiled. Ino was brilliantly mean to people that irritated her. She always handled her own affairs.

Plus she'd get mad if someone else intervened.

The guy's eyes widened. This was probably the first time someone had so shamelessly insulted him. "What, you wanted to ditch me in order to go back to this scrawny idiot," he said, gesturing towards Shikamaru, "and this loser fat-ass?" he said with a nod towards Choji.

Ino raised her hand to her forehead "Dammit."

"Son of a bitch," Shikamaru sighed.

"_What_ did you say?" Choji demanded, dropping his bags.

"It's your turn," Ino said to Shikamaru.

"I called you a loser fat-ass," the guy taunted.

"This one's your fault," Shikamaru said to Ino.

"I took care of the last one. It's your turn," she retorted.

There was a larger crowd now. Pretty Boy smirked at Choji, clearly under the impression that he could take this out-of-shape, overweight boy. Choji, meanwhile, was glowering. Anyone in Konoha would have known what this meant, but Pretty Boy was utterly oblivious.

Shikamaru sighed. "Choji, wait."

Choji didn't seem to register his words. Ino gave Shikamaru a _look_ meaning that she wasn't impressed with his effort and he needed to try harder.

"We aren't on a mission so we can actually get in trouble for this."

"He's just a stupid civilian," Choji said with eyes narrowed at Pretty Boy, whose smirk now seemed somewhat confused. "Konoha won't care."

"I'll have to heal him, Choji, and I _really_ don't want to," Ino said.

"Then don't heal him," Choji said and charged.

Pretty Boy gasped as Shikamaru appeared instantly at Choji's side and gripped his arm tightly to hold him in place. Choji wrenched his arm out of Shikamaru's grasp and started stomping towards Pretty Boy. Shikamaru was instantly in front of him and Pretty Boy gaped. He couldn't see them move. He backed away quickly.

"Stop. Now," Shikamaru said.

In a fair fight, Shikamaru would win. But there were four problems. Number one; Choji was angry. Number two; Shikamaru hated fighting Choji outside of training grounds. Number three; a fight was certain to have major collateral damage. Number four; Pretty Boy really deserved a beating.

Choji glared at Shikamaru. "Traitor! Get out of the way!"

"Hey man," Pretty Boy said hesitantly from behind Shikamaru, "I d-didn't mean anything. Just saying some stuff, y'know."

"Screw you," Choji spat from over Shikamaru's shoulder. The guy's words did _nothing_ to calm his rage, "Get out of the way now!"

The crowd shifted nervously. Ino sighed and glared at Pretty Boy. He caught her eye, his expression now frightened. Ino made a seal.

Shikamaru was distracted by the sound of something hitting the ground. Choji used the opportunity to break past him and slam his fist violently into Pretty Boy's face, causing him to fly backwards.

"Dammit Choji!" Pretty Boy said, standing up and spitting blood. "You _need_ to work on your _temper_! And you're going to get us all in trouble and ruin our vacation!"

Choji dropped his fist. "Ino! You idiot, why'd you do that? That wasn't meant for you!"

Shikamaru was already over at Ino's limp body, checking the damage on her face. She'd also hit the ground pretty hard.

"Now you get out of his body so I can beat him to a pulp!" Choji demanded.

Pretty Boy folded his arms and glared at Choji. "You know you can't do that! Just pick something else to do to him instead. And shut up," he said, seemingly to himself, "You're such a whiny baby."

"Don't wear yourself out," Shikamaru said, "You're going to want to be able to heal this."

Pretty Boy touched the bloody bruise on his left eye and his glare intensified. "Dammit Choji!"

Choji scowled in return. "That wasn't meant for you! It was meant for that dumb-ass!"

Pretty Boy rested a hand on his hip in a decidedly feminine manner. "You can't beat up civilians!" he returned sharply.

Shikamaru sighed. Ino challenging Choji with Pretty Boy's body was _not_ likely to help decrease the situation. Choji certainly didn't look at all settled down. He and Pretty Boy were sharing very dark death glares.

Shikamaru sighed again. Pretty Boy glanced over at him. "You can help out if you want. Instead of just letting me do all the work."

"Choji, you can't hurt civilians," Shikamaru said flatly. "Or Ino."

"Yes I can," Choji responded.

Pretty Boy now had both hands on his hips to accompany the glare on his face. Choji scowled in return. "How'd you like it if he called _you_ fat?" he challenged.

Pretty Boy's eyes widened.

"Choji, stop it now!" Shikamaru said with more force. He did _not_ want to deal with two rage-filled teammates. One was more than enough.

Pretty Boy's expression turned murderous. And then, suddenly, his eyes filled with tears. Choji looked startled and then worried. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

How. Troublesome.

Ino had pulled this hundreds of times back when they were training with Asuma. Her eyes would fill with tears, her lower lip would start trembling, and then she'd lower her head to her hands and cry like the most heartbroken soul that had ever lived. It was actually a _brilliant_ strategy because Asuma had _no clue_ how to deal with a sobbing little girl. And Choji and Shikamaru weren't much better. So what usually happened was that Asuma would end up sitting next to her and would pat her back awkwardly and then basically cater to whatever she wanted in order to get her to stop crying.

Such as when Choji had questioned her diet. After she'd burst into tears, Asuma had turned around from where he'd been walking ahead of them with a startled expression on his face. Then he'd gotten a kind of horrified expression on his face and had reluctantly headed back to try to take care of the situation. And when he'd asked her what she was crying about, she'd managed to wail, "Choji c-called me _fat_!"

Choji, of course, had been appalled. "I did not! I just said that she didn't really diet!"

Ino had started crying even _louder_ and Asuma flinched. Then he'd sat beside her. "There, there, Princess," he said in soothing and awkward tone. "You're one of the scrawniest kids I've seen. You aren't fat."

It finally ended after about twenty minutes with Asuma saying, "And Choji's sorry that he said you weren't on a diet."

"Because I _am_ on a diet," Ino had sniffed petulantly.

Choji had scowled and Shikamaru had rolled his eyes. Asuma was a great guy in every other respect. But emotional little girls were _not_ his forte.

"Of course you are, Princess."

And that had been the beginning of this tradition.

But the most obnoxious part was that, when it came to her appearance, Ino wasn't fake crying in order to get her way.

Choji seemed to have suddenly remembered that fact. Not to mention the fact that he, like Asuma, was a sucker for catering to crying girls. Even Shikamaru was uncomfortable.

"Listen, I'm not saying you _are_ fat," Choji said anxiously, "I was just…"

"Hisao?"

A girl was scurrying quickly up the street towards Pretty Boy. "Hisao, why are you crying?" she exclaimed grabbing his arm.

Pretty Boy, Shikamaru, and Choji all looked at her. The slightest expression of shrewdness passed through Pretty Boy's eyes. The girl gasped. "What happened to your face? Oh, I've been so worried about you ever since you disappeared last night, babe, and then you didn't come back to the apartment! What happened?"

Ino opened her eyes and sat up. Shikamaru glanced at her with interest. She stood up quickly before the girl spotted her on the ground and then she strode towards Pretty Boy, seeming to not notice the other girl.

"Oh, Hisao!" she exclaimed in a particularly syrupy tone, "I'm so glad to see you again! I'm so sorry I had to leave before you woke up this morning," she smirked at him, "but I promise I'll make it up to you tonight."

Then she leaned into the stunned boy and kissed him.

Choji's eyes widened. Shikamaru's narrowed. The girl gasped and grabbed Ino's wrist, yanking her back. Ino let her. "What do you think you're doing?" the girl shouted at her.

Ino looked at her and then glanced back at Hisao. "Honey, who is this?"

The girl shrieked and marched up to the sputtering boy and slapped him furiously, her open palm landing directly on top of the large bruise already coloring his cheek. "But- but Hanae!" he cried, "Wait! I-"

Ino watched in satisfaction as the girl stormed away and Hisao followed quickly after her. Ino walked back to the other two and exchanged a high-five with a grinning Choji.

"I bet you he has to sleep at a friend's tonight," Ino said.

Choji nodded with glee.

They were kind of a vindictive duo.

Ino glanced over and saw Shikamaru's expression. "Oh come on," she said, "He deserved it."

"Do you _really_ go around kissing strangers?" Shikamaru said distastefully.

Ino smirked a Cheshire's smirk. "Are you sure you're not just _jealous_?" she said leaning in to him, just an inch from his face, with lowered eyelids, shockingly seductive.

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he jerked backwards. "What the _hell_?"

Ino leaned back and turned around with a toss of her head, laughing. "Jeez, lighten up," she said and flounced off, leaving Shikamaru and Choji to trail after her, Choji giving Shikamaru a strange look out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey everyone! This chapter took longer to get out because of an eight-page rewrite and rudimentary health problems.**

**Everyone has spoiled me again! I LOVE reading your reviews and I am thrilled that everyone likes the Team 10 dynamic. There is something of a shortage of fics out there about them, so I'm glad that I can help out.**

**Recap: Just to avoid any possible confusion. In that fight scene with those four, Ino used her body-switch technique. Therefore Pretty Boy=Ino. Until she sat up and headed for the social kill. Then she's back.  
**

**Interesting Note: Troubled Cloud brought up Ino's intelligence in their review, so I thought I'd share an awesome fact. According to the stats page, Ino graduated at the top of their class along with Sasuke. They tied for first. I always thought that was awesome. Too bad Kishimoto doesn't seem that interested.**

**Thank you again for reviewing! I appreciate it so much!**

**-CR**


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